The United States women’s basketball team will get its chance to win a seventh-straight Olympic gold medal.
Team USA cruised past Serbia 79-59 in their semifinal game on Friday in Japan to earn a spot in the gold medal game. The win marked their 54th straight victory in Olympic play, a streak dating back to the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.
The United States didn’t waste any time on Friday, and took advantage of a tough offensive start from Serbia to take a 25-12 lead after the opening quarter. Serbia shot just 6-of-19 in the first 10 minutes, and scored only four points in the first five minutes of the game.
Though both teams stalled a bit offensively in the second, Team USA ended the period on an 11-3 push to claim an 18-point lead at halftime.
By then, the game was essentially over. The Americans pushed their lead to 19 points by the end of the third quarter and then cruised through the final period to secure the 20-point win and advance to the championship game.
Serbia had just one player score in double figures in the loss. Yvonne Anderson — the daughter of St. John’s men’s basketball coach Mike Anderson — led the team with 15 points off the bench while shooting 6-of-16 from the field. Serbia shot just 30% as a team, and went 4-of-19 from behind the arc.
Brittney Griner led Team USA with 15 points and 12 rebounds, and Chelsea Gray put up 14 points off the bench while shooting 5-of-6 from the field. Breanna Stewart added 12 points and nine rebounds. They had 17 turnovers in the win.
Team USA will advance to take on either Japan or France in the gold medal game. Those two countries will square off later on Friday, and the loser will move on to the bronze medal game against Serbia.
More from Yahoo Sports:
